“Closer than ever — ever being since they left, which has been a long time much to my surprise and anticipation,” Jones said, referring to the relocations of the Rams (from Anaheim) and Raiders (from the Coliseum) after the 1994 season. “There are some viable ways for a team or teams to be in Los Angeles. We’ve got some very talented and very qualified people that want to be a part of it that are not a part of the league right now. We, obviously, have people within the league that want this very much. . . .

“I think we’re closer,” Jones added. “I say that not just wishing. I say that, technically, because I’m aware of some things that make sense.”

Before a team can move to L.A., a stadium must be built. The league has no apparently interest in Ed Roski’s shovel-ready project in the City of Industry. Farmers Field — the only stadium in league history that finagled a naming-rights deal without a green light to build the place — has stagnated. The current flavor of the month has become the Chavez Ravine location near Dodgers Stadium, but rights held by former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt coupled with widely-anticipated objections from local residents could make it impossible to pull off.

So while it’s possible that a return to L.A. is closer than ever, it’s also possible that there’s still many years and many (many) millions of dollars to go.

rams after next year and raiders soon after that!! kroenke has buisness in LA and the raiders on cbs2 had a report that the raiders let the city of los angeles and AEG thye would be interested in moving back.

Unfortunately the most obvious choice right is the Raiders if you look at the total situation, what has been said in the last week with the stadium proposal and all. Mark Davis says he wants to stay in Oakland and as a Raiders fan I hope that is what happens. But when you compare what L.A can give, 68,500 seat stadium and one of the best sports cities in the world it could be too much for Davis to turn down if he and the city of Oakland can’t come to terms soon on a stadium deal. I hope Oakland fights like hell to keep the Raiders.

clemenza58 says:Jul 21, 2013 12:42 AM

Something is definitely happening behind the scenes with the NFL and L.A. The Rams, Chargers and Raiders each have expiring stadium leases within the next couple of seasons and none of those teams have any resolution in sight within their current markets.

I think the Raiders will be headed back to Los Angeles in 2014 and the Rams will follow suit in 2015. The Chargers seem less interested in moving. Plus it’s in the NFL’s best interests to stay in San Diego because they don’t want to lose that market as a Super Bowl host city.

kd75 says:Jul 21, 2013 12:52 AM

If you build it, they still won’t come.

The Rams and the Raiders were both playoff teams, but nobody went to the games.

You want to stick a team there that gets its games blacked out every week because everyone in L.A. is from somewhere else and has other team allegiances?

The NFL will never put a team in L.A. again, for the simple reason that as long as the city is ‘open’, teams will always be able to use moving there to threaten their own cities for new stadiums and sweetheart deals.

LA doesn’t need 2 teams. History shows they will not support 2 teams. Just move the Rams back there and be done with it.

clemenza58 says:Jul 21, 2013 10:06 AM

I understand why people don’t have a favorable opinion of Los Angeles as a football market (among other things). Attendance was spotty for both the Rams and the Raiders while they were there almost 20 years ago. But are either of those teams (or the Chargers and Jaguars) doing any better in their current markets? Remember, the NFL makes most of their money off of luxury suites and their TV deals. The teams that do eventually end up in L.A. will make more money there than they will in any of their current markets. That’s all that matters to the owners at the end of the day. You’ll get more money off of suites in a new stadium(s) in L.A. and from the TV rights there than almost any place else.

There is no doubt the league has used L.A. as a bargaining chip to get stadiums built in other cities but at some point, the well will have (and probably already has) dried up with all of the stadiums built since 1995. It’s very unlikely stadium deals are going to get done in St. Louis and Oakland, which are two markets the NFL doesn’t really need. I’ve always maintained that the Rams and the Raiders will go back to L.A. because the Jaguars can’t get out of their lease until 2030 and the Chargers (at least publicly) have stated that they aren’t interested in going to L.A. Plus as I said in a post above, San Diego is a valuable market for the NFL because of it being a desirable host site for the Super Bowl.

Like it or not, the NFL will return to L.A. Sports, just like everything else, is a business.

LA should do what the Raiders have proposed doing in Oakland, and what the Bears did in Chicago: Build a smallish stadium that an NFL team could sell out in their sleep, thus ensuring that all games are televised locally.

LA’s massive TV market is, after all, the dominant reason why the NFL wants to return as badly as they do. An LA team could pull a fraction of local ratings that, say, Jaguars games do in Jacksonville, and that would still translate to many more eyeballs on the LA team, simply due to the sheer size of the LA market.

I think Jerrah was think since the 49ers are building a stadium in Santa Clara,south of San Francisco, then they will be “closer” to LA.

NoHomeTeam says:Jul 21, 2013 4:33 PM

As a football fan in Los Angeles, I’d like to believe that we will have a team sooner, rather than later.

That said, Jerry Jones just needs to shut up. I believe his credibility is essentially nonexistent with most football fans; even his last bastion of True Belief in Dallas appears to be weakening.

Jones extolling the virtues of a team here in L.A. weakens the case, not strengthens it.

“I think we’re closer,” Jones added. ”I say that not just wishing. I say that, technically, because I’m aware of some things that make sense.”

I think that a lot of what Jerry thinks he’s “aware” of looks a lot more like wishing than knowing.

bobthis says:Jul 22, 2013 3:36 PM

The Raiders tried move back twice and the NFL and L.A. said NO! Not much fun going to the game with all the gangbangers. That move will never happen. After almost 20 years without a team it’s apparent the L.A. is simply not getting one as long as we have lackys like Goodell bagging cash for the owners. He still wants a team in London before L.A. Good luck to the 49’s and Raiders making an 11 hour flight to play a 3 hour game. Four different groups have given the NFL everything they asked for including no public money for the stadium but that’s still not enough. Lets just face the facts. The answer is no.